Wednesday was Ladies Day at the Gerry Weber Open. Between matches, it means that the lines in the women’s loo are long, though. The honored fans wait each year for that special day and the air is bursting with anticipation, tinged with perfume and most of all, excitement.
For the players, the day is merely another day in the life of a professional tennis player. There was no Roger Federer today. He has been the headliner at Halle since his first win in 2003. Federer won yesterday when his original opponent, Yen-Hsun Lu, withdrew and a Lucky Loser, Yuichi Sugita, filled in. (He wasn’t so lucky after the Maestro from Switzerland moved on to the next round, 6-3, 6-1, but at least he will have the memory of facing Federer, the eight time winner in Halle.) The first match of the Ladies Day extravaganza seemed as if it would offer a glimpse of two well-matched players, but alas, it was business as usual for Bernard Tomic, the Australian who has so much promise.
Today he tended to be on the nonchalant end of his wavering personality. Opposite him was thirty-one year old Richard Gasquet, who is one of the trio of French players who are either on the brink of or who have already turned thirty-one. (The other members of that trio are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. Gasquet defeated Monfils earlier this week, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.) The twenty-four year old Tomic has one of the most seesawing games in tennis today. One minute his shot-making skills are admirable, the next he seems sluggish and complacent. He has been on the hot seat more than once with his devil may care attitude. And judging from his father’s similar interface with the world in general, let alone tennis, chances are he will continue to ruffle feathers (or should that be fuzzy yellow tennis balls). Gasquet seemed not to notice the erratic nature of Tomic’s performance and merely played tennis. The Frenchman is very good at the game and even though most of today’s players tend to bang the ball from baseline to baseline, Gasquet, a right-hander, is fluid and classy on the court. He has a beautiful one-handed backhand that helps his game at just the right moments. His serve is a bit on the iffy side if speed is what one desires; but it works just fine, thank you. Tomic left the court much as he came – head down, shoulders carefully straightened and absolutely no eye contact with the crowd. Gasquet will move on to the next round.
Roberto Bautista Agut and Dustin Brown were next up on Center Court. Their match was a pleasure to watch, not because either one of them is the kind of smooth player that Gasquet has proven himself to be, but because it was tennis at its finest; both men playing every point to the very best of their ability. Brown is from Germany, and was given a wild card into the GWO. He is a fascinating person to observe. He has a full head of hair that surely reaches past his waist and is dread locked. I always wonder if there is so much hair that it hinders his movement, but, he and Bautista Agut gave all the ladies in attendance a wonderful match that was undecided until the last ball was struck. Bautista Agut got the win, with the score 6-4, 1-6, 7-6.
There are usually four matches on Center Court, and next up was German Philipp Kohlschreiber, a former winner at the Gerry Weber Open. He had a bit of trouble with his opponent, Alexander Zverev, the twenty year-old German whiz kid who has taken the tennis world by storm and is now ranked No. 12, and that’s with a group of much more experienced players. He took away Kohlschreiber’s chances of duplicating his 2011 championship here. Alexander Zverev wasted not a stroke when he moved to the next round where he will face Bautista Agut.
The night matches begin at 5:30 p.m. Dominic Thiem and Robin Haase provided the londay of tennis with a dessert that should have pleased everyone. Haase is thirty and is from The Netherlands. He has spent the last seven seasons in the top 100. He just keeps working and working, and traveling to compete because he loves tennis. Today’s match gave him a hard fought win over a younger, more highly ranked player, Austrian, Dominic Thiem. The final score belied the closeness of the entire match, 6-3, 7-6. He will play Gasquet in his next endeavor that is sure to offer top-notch tennis.
All in all, it was a great day for tennis. The women enjoyed their special day in the sun and the beautiful venue. They will likely have plenty of “Did you see that?” moments thenext time they gather with their friends for tennis or coffee. It doesn’t have to be ladies day in Halle at the GWO because tennis is the only thing on the menu and everyone here surely agrees that is the way it’s served the best.
